![[Clan Steel Viper Logo]](vipernew.gif)
A truly fearsome beast, the great viper of Arcadia possesses strength and tenacity
unmatched by any other predator on that world. It coils around its prey in a crushing
embrace, then finishes its kill with a deadly poison. The warriors of the Clan
I name Steel Viper show remarkable tenacity in battle and in their service to
our great mission. May they continue to serve with unshakable faith, and may their
opponents learn to fear the fangs of the Steel Vipers.
-- From Birth of a New Society: The Collected Writings of Nicholas Kerensky, Strana
Mechty Press, 3025
Clan Steel Viper
presents something of a paradox. They follow more fiercely the Clan way and
the code of the warrior than any other Clan, and at the same time believe in
a unique vision that may ultimately temper the aggression of the Clans. This
seeming paradox rises from the Vipers' deeply held conviction that they alone
understand that Nicholas Kerensky's true vision called for the Clans to conquer
the former worlds of the Terran Hegemony and then to restore the Star League,
not by coercing the people of the Inner Sphere to accept Clan leadership, but
by cooperating with the existing Great Houses to reestablish one proper government.
Because they alone understand this vision, the Viper also believe that their
destiny is to lead the restoration of the Star League as ilKlan.
The Vipers early years nearly spelled the end of the Clan. Khan Ellie Kinnison, a fervent supporter of ilKhan Nicholas Kerensky, led her troops to numerous victories during Operation Klondike. Afterwards, she instituted a rather rigid training plan for the new sibkos. The new training only produced a few warriors at a time, though all were very skilled. Concerned that the Vipers were lagging behind the other Clans, Nicholas sent a team of Clan Sea Fox scientists to study the Vipers training methods. The Sea Fox scientists left reporting that the Vipers simply had a more strenuous regimen than many other Clans. They also extended an invitation from Khan Kinnison to ilKhan Kerensky to inspect the facilities himself.
While ilKhan Kerensky's transport was in the final landing stages, Steel Viper saKhan Steven Breen was attacked by three assailants. Breen subdued all three and sounded a security alert. He searched the rest of the building and found two snipers, whom he quickly dispatched. A communiqué from one of the assassins radio told Breen what he needed to know and he raced to the ilKhan's DropShip.
saKhan Breen arrived just as ilKhan Nicholas and his wife, Jennifer Winson, were disembarking. Breen managed to shoot Khan Kinnison in the shoulder with his first shot. During a brief scuffle between saKhan Breen and Steel Viper security troops, none except Breen and Jennifer Winson saw Khan Kinnison attempt to shoot the ilKhan's wife. Breen broke free of the security personnel and this time killed Khan Kinnison with a shot to the head.
An investigation afterward revealed Khan Kinnison's obsessive love for ilKhan Nicholas Kerensky. Her plot was to kill Jennifer Winson and then make Nicholas turn to her for comfort. As punishment for her crime, Nicholas had her genetic material destroyed and her Bloodname stricken from the Steel Viper records.
The Steel Vipers then selected Steven Breen as their new Khan. In the years to follow, many Clans tried to prove that the Steel Vipers were unfit to hold their own possessions. The Clan fought many Trials of Possession before the other Clans realized that the Steel Vipers were as deadly and well-trained as any other Clan.
Though the results of the trials on Strana Mechty to determine the invading Clans restricted Clan Steel Viper to reserve status during the initial stages of the Inner Sphere campaign, the Vipers went on to achieve notable successes in the fifth wave and even after the Battle of Tukayyid. They took a number of worlds from Clan Jade Falcon, whose invasion corridor they share, and now stand as the Clan closest to Terra. The Clan's leaders have displayed remarkable aplomb in negotiating the recent political and military storms swirling around them, and many observers expect Clan Steel Viper to emerge as a dominant force when the Clans next move against the Inner Sphere.
The Golden Century was a time of exploration and growth for many Clans. The Steel Vipers, due to a lack of consensus, grew to be somewhat isolated from the other Clans. The distance between the Steel Vipers and the other Clans grew each year. Politically, the Steel Vipers were unable to stick to any coherent policy and voted according to the whims of the current Khans.
Things changed dramatically for the Steel Vipers in 2860. Sanra Mercer first came to the attention of Khan Jacob Masters. Mercer was the youngest Steel Viper warrior to ever win a Bloodname. She was a brilliant strategist and MechWarrior. To honor her many talents, Khan Masters nominated her to be the Steel Vipers saKhan.
This decision soon came back to haunt him. Shortly after becoming saKhan, Mercer began spreading word of Nicholas Kerensky's "true vision" of the Clans' purpose. According to her vision, the Clans were destined to conquer the Inner Sphere in honorable combat. The Clans would teach the conquered Great Houses the errors of their ways and lead them in rebuilding the Star League. Her speeches won many warriors to her side.
Not all saw things as she did, though. Khan Masters, furious at Mercer's betrayal, convened the Clan Council and accused her of treason. Mercer skillfully defended her position, winning many converts to her cause. In the end, she was convicted. Mercer declared a Trial of Refusal. Khan Master's force initially had the advantage until Mercer's Highlander shot down Master's aerospace fighter. Masters' troops were so demoralized that Mercer easily won the Trial.
Sanra Mercer was then elected Khan of the Steel Vipers. She quickly unified her powerbase and defeated all challengers of her vision. At last the Steel Vipers found themselves with a purpose and a leader strong enough to make it happen.
Khan Mercer's initial acts further isolated the Steel Vipers from the other Clans. Only out of necessity was the merchant caste allowed to interact with other Clans, and then only under strict observation by the warrior caste. Some Clans doubted her reforms and Khan Mercer successfully defended her position in several Trials of Grievance.
Throughout the Golden Century, the Steel Vipers lagged behind other Clans in exploring and colonizing other star systems. The merchant caste, in particular, felt the cost of the Clan's isolationist policies.
By the early 2900's, the Clan had finally obtained omnimech and elemental technologies as well as developed the fearsome Ultra-20 autocannon. The Clan, bowing to pressure from the merchant castes, finally established several colonies. It was also during this time that the Steel Vipers and Jade Falcons became mortal enemies, due to the Vipers' voting policies in the Grand Council.
In 3000, Khan Nadia Winson of Clan Ghost Bear called upon the Clans to invade the Inner Sphere. The Grand Council was, at that time, deeply divided on the matter. On one side, several Clans, calling themselves Wardens, refused to go along with any invasion plan saying that that was counter to Alexsandr and Nicholas Kerensky's dream. Another group, the Crusaders, were ardently in favor of invasion. For them, the invasion would not only allow them to rebuild the Star League, but exact revenge on the Great Houses for forcing Alexsandr Kerensky to leave the Inner Sphere.
Clan Wolf Khan Kherlin Ward, however, forestalled the invasion question by suggesting that the Clans needed more information on the current state of the Inner Sphere. His plan to send in a force of freeborn warriors, under the guise of mercenaries, to learn more and report back with their findings. This plan was met with overwhelmingly approval and within two years, the Wolf's Dragoons began their trek to the Inner Sphere.
For twenty years, Wolf's Dragoons sent back reports that shocked the Clans. The information obtained by the Dragoon's that, in many cases, the Clans' belief about the collapse had come true. What was even more disturbing were reports that the Successor States were on the road to recovery. It was during the mid-3020's that the Dragoons stopped sending reports. Evidence began to mount against the Dragoons - stating that the Wolf forces had changed sides and given their loyalty over to the Inner Sphere.
In 3048, the ComStar explorer ship, Outbound Light, strayed into Smoke Jaguar territory. Smoke Jaguar Khan Leo Showers used information extracted from the ComStar crew to convince the Grand Council that the time had come to invade the Inner Sphere. Despite protests from Wolf Khan Ulric Kerensky, the Grand Council voted overwhelmingly in favor of Operation Revival.
In spite of their best efforts, the Steel Vipers were relegated to reserve status in the invasion force. The only combat their troops saw occurred in 3050 when Khan Jorgensson of Clan Ghost Bear called upon them to help quell guerrilla movements on Ghost Bear-held worlds.
The death of ilKhan Leo Showers at Radstadt forced the Clans to withdraw to Strana Mechty while the Bloodnamed selected a new ilKhan. In a fit of revenge for Clan Wolf's excellent performance, the Crusader Clans forced Ulric Kerensky to become the new ilKhan.
To their delight and horror, ilKhan Ulric activated the Steel Vipers and assigned them to the same invasion corridor as their hated enemies, the Jade Falcons. The Steel Vipers initiated several Trials of Possession for Jade Falcon worlds so that they could build their supply lines. Each battle was brutally fought and the Vipers narrowly won Trials for five worlds. Before the Steel Vipers could conquer more worlds, ilKhan Ulric summoned them to a planet called Tukayyid.
The bidding for Tukayyid was fierce. The Smoke Jaguars won the right to land first, but the forces they committed ultimately doomed the Jaguars. The Tukayyid battle plan called for the Vipers to take Kozice Ranch Station and Kelly Springs. Learning from Clan Smoke Jaguar's mistake of dropping too near to its target cities on Tukayyid, the Vipers opted for a conservative strategy, dropping far from their objectives. Khan Breen sent her main forces marching toward the city of Kozice Ranch Station. Despite continuous artillery and aerospace barrages, the Viper 'Mechs proceeded steadily toward their primary objective, unaware of the hazards awaiting them in the intervening land known as Devil's Bath. A horrific 18-kilometer stretch of geysers, boiling mud and massive granite columns, the Bath would prove the Viper's undoing.
As the Vipers reached the fringes of the Bath, they encountered the ComGuards' Sixth Division, which appeared to break after an initial exchange of fire. Thirsting for a quick victory, Breen led her warriors in pursuit of the following 'Mechs. Within minutes, she realized her headlong rush had led her troops into a trap. Entire Stars began to sink in the mud, their long-range weapons made useless by the surrounding forest of granite pillars. As Breen hesitated, unsure whether to retreat from the treacherous terrain or pursue the enemy, the ComGuard command broadcast an insulting public challenge to her via a satellite link established in his 'Mech. Enraged by the challenge and eager to save face before the other Clans, Breen resumed the attack.
The Vipers inflicted heavy losses on the ComGuard troops, but took heavy losses themselves and has expended most of their ammunition when they finally reached the end of the Devil's Bath. There, they faced fresh ComGuard units which broke through the Viper lines and occupied the Clan machines while ComGuard reinforcements massed at Kozice Ranch Station and Kelly Springs. By that point, one of every four Viper units had been destroyed and both Khan Breen and saKhan Zalman had been wounded. Only kilometers away from her Clan's objectives, Breen nonetheless ordered her troops to retreat to their DropShips and lift from the planet. Humiliated by the total rout of her troops on Tukayyid and still laboring to dispel the cloud of her Clan's poor performance in the combat trials to win a position as a primary invading Clan, Khan Breen resigned her
position.
Though the Steel Vipers met defeat at the hands of their Inner Sphere opponents on Tukayyid, their position nearest Terra on the front line of the invasion allows them to continue to believe that they will someday lead the Inner Sphere to accept the rebirth of the Star League. The Steel Viper warriors have found a tangible reason to respect their Inner Sphere foes as Khan Mercer prophesied they should, and this respect - along with the Vipers' current position as a front-line Clan an even more deadly opponent when the invasion resumes.
The events following Tukayyid have left the Steel Vipers in a strong position. In the years following the truce declaration, the Vipers successfully captured several Jade Falcon worlds in the occupied zone. Later attempts to capture more worlds were sharply rebuffed by the Falcons.
The biggest event in Steel Viper post-Tukayyid history occurred when dezgra warrior Dawn returned to the Clan with evidence that Amaris bloodline was finally expunged. Dawn was subsequently restored to warrior status, but her current whereabouts remain unknown.
The waning power of the Wolves and the Jade Falcons has created a power vacuum among the invading Clans, leading to further instability as other Clans in the invasion force jockey for power. At present, the Ghost Bears seem the most likely to lead a renewed invasion. The Bears have bolstered their troops with reinforcements from the Clan homeworlds, a development that poses a grave threat to the Draconis Combine worlds that lie above the truce line.
Kurita raiders have staged near-constant raids against Clan Smoke Jaguar in recent years, which have prevented that Clan from effectively recovering from the heavy casualties it suffered on Tukayyid. Nova Cat raiders have begun harassing Smoke Jaguar forces recently as well, further hampering the Clan's attempts to rebuild. As a result, the Smoke Jaguars seem unlikely to challenge the Ghost Bears for leadership of the Clans. Clan Smoke Jaguar's weakness has filled its warriors with frustration and a fierce desire to prove they are still a force to be reckoned with - which makes the Jaguars a potentially dangerous enemy for their Clan brethren and Inner Sphere powers.
Neither the Steel Vipers nor the Nova Cats have the strength to challenge the Ghost Bears, but both Clans are far from harmless. The Viper Khan, Perigard Zalman, has shown remarkable restraint while patiently rebuilding his Clan, which marks him as a canny and dangerous leader. Meanwhile, the Nova Cats continue to rebuild following their losses on Luthien and Tukayyid. Their weakened condition, however, has not prevented them from raiding worlds located above the truce line.
The Refusal War increased the Vipers position in the invasion vanguard, further strengthening their hold on their worlds. The Viper Khans were prepared, along with the other Clans, to renew the invasion in 3059, but Operation Bulldog and the fall of the Smoke Jaguars has left that effort on hold for the time being.
With the defeat of the Smoke Jaguars in the Inner Sphere and on Huntress, the Clans found themselves with the unprecedented prospect of an Inner Sphere invasion of Strana Mechty. The Star League Defense Force soon challenged the Clans to a Trial of Refusal over the invasion. If the Inner Sphere won, the invasion was over and the invading Clans would retain the worlds they had conquered. If the Clans won, the invasion would resume. The Steel Vipers, who had long been considered Crusaders, had over the course of the last eight years switched to the Warden philosophy, although their deep hatred for the Jade Falcons continues. Khan Perigard voted along with the other Warden Khans to not participate in the battle.
The Star League's victory has, for the moment, forestalled any future Clan incursions. They are prohibited from expanding their holdings, unless they take them from another Clan. Given recent happenings within Clan Jade Falcon, the Viper Khans are currently contemplating action against them.
The Remembrance is an ongoing heroic saga detailing Clan history from the time of the Exodus from the Inner Sphere to the present day. The Remembrance is continually expanded to include contemporary events. Each Clan has a slightly different version reflecting their own opinions and experiences. All Clan warriors can quote whole verses of this marvelous epic from memory, and it is common to see passages from the book lovingly painted on the sides of OmniMechs, fighters, and even battle armor.
From the ranks of many she rose,
Pre-eminent among all others.
Foe after foe fell before the young warrior
For destiny guided her sword.
When our Leader called, she rose
And became the head of the mighty Serpent.
She guided the Viper alongside the Wolf,
Along the path of the True Vision.
Let us forever honor the First Khan, who showed the way.
Let us remain faithful to the True Path she marked for the Viper.
-- The Remembrance (Clan Steel Viper), Passage 3, Verse 5, Lines 6-15
General Bloodnames
Breen
Zalman
MechWarriors
Ahmed
Andrews
Mercer
Moffat
Elementals
Chapman
Grimani
Roland
Pilots
Cochraine
Masters
Tamm
Steel Viper Mechwarrior
Point Commander
Star Commander
Star Captain
Star Colonel
Galaxy Commander
Khan
Point 1
Point 2
Point 3
Point 4
Point 5
Flagship: Dark Asp Nightlord Class Battleship
Zalman's Endeavor Cameron Class Battle Cruiser
Sanra Mercer Sovetskii Soyuz Class Heavy Cruiser
Steel Python Aegis Class Heavy Cruiser
Snake Leader Congress Class Frigate
Constrictor Whirlwind Class Destroyer
Snake-in-the-Grass Whirlwind Class Destroyer
Martial Legacy Essex Class Destroyer
Snake Pit Lola III Class Destroyer
Anaconda Lola III Class Destroyer
Pit Viper Fredasa Class Corvette
Coiled Serpent Vincent Mk.42 Class Corvette
Ophidian Potemkin Class Troop Transport
Serpentes Potemkin Class Troop Transport
Pride of New Kent Carrack Class Transport
Head
Command Star.
Krait
Assault Star (Heavy to Assault weight Battlemechs).
Boa
Battle Star (Medium to Heavy weight Battlemechs).
Mamba
Striker Star (Light to Medium weight Battlemechs).
Rattler
Reinforced Star of five OmniMechs and five Elemental points (Nova).
Cobra
Elemental Star.
Adder
Aerospace Star.
Viper
Conventional Infantry Star.
Asp
Vehicle Star.
Molt
Ad-hoc combined arms Star.